In recent times, crabbing has increased in popularity, both as a means of making a living and for providing recreation and personal consumption. Crabs are prized for their delicious flavor by many consumers. In the Northeastern United States and in many West Coast areas of the United States, the Alaska King Crab, as well as the dungeness, are quite popular. On the East Coast, one of the favorites is the blue crab.
Technically known as Callinectes, the blue crab is any of a genus of crustaceans of the order Decapoda. Two varieties within the genus are common to the western Atlantic coast, and are prized delicacies. The most common habitat of these creatures include muddy shores, bays, and estuaries. Although the shells of these sea creatures is decidedly more green than blue, the name derives from the distinctive blue legs.
Other unique characteristics of blue crabs are the large sharp spines projecting from each side. Eight short spines occur on each side between the large spine and the eyes. The pincers are large and somewhat unequal in size. A fifth pair of legs is flattened for swimming, and the overall size of the blue crab is generally about three inches in width. They are scavengers and feast on bodies of dead animals.
Due to their flavor, these animals are much desired as delicacies. Therefore, the art of crabbing has included many designs intended to capture these animals.
These designs have included a cage that is lowered into the water, and in which the crab is captured, and retrieved. As discussed above, the natural habitat of such animals is muddy waters, and thus the crabber generally cannot see the cage to determine whether a crab has been captured or not. Time is often wasted as the crabber waits in uncertainty, hesitant to pull up a cage. This drawback is especially problemsome if there are a plurality of cages being worked by a single crabber.
Still further, many crab cages are not designed to trap a crab without damaging that crab as it tries to escape.
Therefore, there is a need for a crab cage especially for blue crabs which will trap the animal without harming it if it attempts escape, and which can send a signal to a crabber that the cage contains at least one animal, with that signal being identifiable with that particular cage so the crabber will know which cage of several cages has a crab trapped therein.